Well guys, I graduated highschool, went to trade school, now Im back making decent money. The next step for me is getting my own place. I dont want to rent, so Im looking at buying a home of my own. Ive never bought a house so Im new to the mortgage deal. If anyone has any advice, tips or usefully knowledge that may help me out, I would greatly appreciate it. Im going tomorrow to look at a house. Its a nice 3 bed, 1 bath 2 story house that seems to be reasonably priced. Should I look for anything out of the ordinary when inspecting this house? Its in town, but supposedly a nice part of town. Here is a link to the home. What do you guys think?
http://www.trulia.com/property/10704...ngton-PA-15301

 

wow, thats a butifull little house, matt. i dont know much about home buying, i do know i love those post war houses, mostly for their nice layout, simple design, and most of all their build quality. i have seen brand new homes around here fall apart in a couple years, but those older homes were built to LAST.

scince its an older home, make sure there is no abspestos insulation on the basement pipes, or anywhere inside for that matter.

also, if the home has oil heat with an in-ground tank, ask the realtor / seller if & when the tank was replaced, to avoid potential problems from a rotted tank. my Grand-parents had to replace the one on my aunts 1927 cape cod before it could be sold, the seller might be obligated to do the same if nessisary

if ya wanna go crazy, make sure there is not abspestos shingles under the vinal siding. oh...

OH! and check the foundation throughly for cracks & misture, both outide & in, if possible.

im sure there is some stuff im missing... but its basicly like buying a classic car. a thurough inspection is a MUST

 

The house has natural gas heat, public water and public sewage. Natural gas is supposed to be the cheapest was to heat, can anyone confirm that? I will be looking at the structure for sure. Ill look for and ask about any asbestos in the house.

 

nah, a woodstove is the cheapest way to heat but natural gas is also good. no noisy furnace, and cheaper than electric. only downfall out this way is that natural gas wall units require a electronic ignitor, which does not function during the power outages we frequently have. scince the house is in town, its not something i would worry about, im just partial to having the electric & our woodstove, so we have "backup" for almost any situation

 

all the newer gas furnaces have a electric glow pilot as do stoves and some waterheaters, beats the hell out of a standing pilot and true when the power is out the furnace won't lite, the fact is without power the temp sensor won't trip nor would the blower push heat into the house......so back to the pioneering days with a fireplace or wood burner. Enough of that Matt great decision to purchase now even more so at your age as long as your not staping your cash flow...stay comfertable with the payment and you will want to be able to stash a few $ in a side account for those incidentals that pop up every now and then... GET A INSPECTION from a reliable inspector your agent repeat "YOUR" agent will most likely have a couple they trust to work for the buyer. couple, three hundred but well spent and most lenders will require it.. go fixed intrest.. stay away from flex or intrest only you will regreat and thats pretty much where the market fell thru ...older house so mold ,aspestos old pipes so on. basement or crawl and does the foundation in and out show any signss of retaining water or does it appear the water runs away as it should. if it were the summer moss or fungus/wild mushrooms would indicate water retention. It appears to be a beautiful ole house with the wood floors and all out plaster just great and the price..for a starter thats a nice start. look for water leaks inside but the inspector will note it if he sees it. last the realter if they are doing thier job will tell you the action on the house. if its been slow and theres a few more within a decent radius you should have room to bid low and let them counter get it as low as possible and try to get the seller to take some of the points.. the less you pay the more equidy you have in the beginning.. I'm out... Jarhead

 

Thanks Jarhead, thats alot of good information. Your post leads me to another question I had. Im sure I will understand it once I start working with a realtor, but what are the points you mentioned and what do they mean? I saw something else saying something about points while looking at other houses online.

 

Not perfectly sure the exact meaning of points I believe it's required down payment....late seventys thru prez carter the lending banks savings and loan and so on converted to a points system as apposed to 10/20/30%down required on home loans..most lenders wouldn't care to loan over 80% of home value but in the seventys carter and congress created avenues for lower income familys to become home owners by requiring point on the sale that either the buyer or seller would pick up. when my wife and I purhased land and built our house points value was $100 per $1000 of sell price it results in built in equidty. Now these avenues the goverment set up allowed persons of lower income to borrow 100% of value the morgage co's Fanny ma or freedy mac which are goverment (taxpayer) backed loans. basically if you agree on the price of seveny tho your looking at seven grand in points that will have to be paid. the seller can agree to take up a portion of that at closing as part of the sale or they can do nothing and your stuck with it. you will also have closing cost which cannot be borrowed money our closing in '87 on $120.000 was around $1.900. now I'm sure someone out there is more versed on this and it may all have changed within the past few years. we refinanced around five years back to drop from a 7 1/4 to 5 3/5 and we were allowed to roll the closing into the mortgage so you may be able to close with little more than the inspection and app fees....as a veteran tho when we entered the market by law the seller pays the points and we had no closing under the va loan and we again by law had to be given the lowest intrest rate on the market. regardless of all the head aches and anxiety you will experiance over the process if done right this is the correct move. my wife and I spent one year in a rental and just realized even tho it would be a bit more out of pocket each month its at least ours and thru some very good years weve been able to pay foreward on additional principal and in a couple years the deed will be in our hands...brings tears to my eyes.... I've seen hell I know past friends ...my brother in law who have just never jumped into it and you can't convince them of the benies as to it basically being a investment. They just pay thier rent each month and resign the lease and thats that.... I do hope it all works out for you, looks like a great starter in what sounds like a nice location. The car bedroom looks like a twinn but the Monte should slide right in there. Jarhead

 

As a first time home buyer, your biggest challenge is to balance livability and profitability in a way that makes sense for you and your family. Remember, you are buying a home first and an investment second. If you’re waiting for prices to drop you may be waiting a very long time. To save time and trouble, first time buyers should have a practical budget in mind before they shop for homes. With a little research, you can get an objective estimate of property value to make sure the seller has set a fair asking price. There are tools and resources on the Web to help you better understand home valuations.

 

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Well I was kinda dissappointed with the house. The first floor was alright, the livingroom was smaller than I would have liked, but the dining room and kitchen were pretty nice. The second floor is what turned me off with the house. The ceilings were too low for me, being 6'2". The bedrooms were a little small too. The bathroom was nice and the basement was large and open. Im still not happy with the house. It doesnt matter tho, its only the first house I have looked at. Ill just have to keep looking.